Goat guard dog found shot dead

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The Crook County Sheriff’s Office today is looking for information about who may have shot a livestock guard dog over the weekend.

One of three dogs guarding a herd of 350 goats off the O’Neil Highway between Redmond and Prineville, the dog was likely shot sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

“At this point we don’t have any suspects as far as who shot the dog,” Sgt. Travis Jurgens of the Crook County Sheriff’s Office said this morning.

The guard dogs protect the livestock from coyotes, cougars and other predators, said Ed Barnes, who raises the goats for meat. He found the dog, a 4-year-old Maremma, shot dead in the pasture Sunday morning.

He said it’s unclear why someone would shoot the large white dog that was mother to the two other dogs protecting the herd.

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” Barnes said this morning.

Anyone with information about the shooting should call the Sheriff’s Office at 541-447-6398.